In the field of imaging, radar is one way in which imaging can be accomplished. In many instances, the use of electronic signaling for communicating the imaging information can be disrupted by environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, pressure, radiation, and/or other such conditions.
For example, in military and other applications, a type of radar called synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is utilized to provide imaging. SAR is a form of radar which utilizes post processing of radar data collected from one or more radar receivers to produce a narrow effective beam.
Its utilization is often with respect to moving vehicles (e.g., aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, watercraft) that are imaging relatively immobile targets and can be applied for remote sensing and mapping, among other functions. The concept of synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) is considered as similar in the present disclosure and although discussion will be focused mainly on SAR, embodiments of the present disclosure may also be utilized with respect to SAS and other suitable imaging techniques.
However, the vehicles that are doing such imaging are often at a high altitude or below sea level and therefore may have one or more environmental conditions that may change the electronic signals passed from the receivers to a processing component and therefore the imaging quality can be effected in some instances. This may be the case where radar receivers are located in different locations on an aircraft, for example, and the receivers may be having different conditions effecting one or more of the electrical paths communicating the information from the various receivers.
Further, the lengths of the paths may differ depending upon the distance from the processing component to the receivers. This can alter the time it takes for information received simultaneously by two receivers to reach the processing component. This may occur at installation and/or upon replacement and/or repositioning of a receiver or other component of the system.
In order to evaluate such differences, the system has to be tested and calibrated and it may be the case that testing and calibration has to be accomplished at the vehicle's base of operations. In many instances, the environmental conditions at the base of operation may not accurately represent all of the operational conditions that may exist when the vehicle is in operation in the field.
Further, if a component has to be replaced in the field of operation, it may be that the replacement changes the electronic signaling of the system with respect to signals utilizing that component. Accordingly, such changes could affect the quality of the images collected.
This may also be problematic with vehicles that have drastic changes in environmental conditions, such as aircraft traveling from a low altitude to a high altitude and/or from a warm environment to a cold environment, etc. These drastic changes can significantly affect the electronic components of such systems, in some instances, and thus, calibration of the system in one environment may not be adequate for an environment encountered between an origin and a destination of the vehicle that is different from the calibration environment.